Astronomers Predicting Zombies in Space

Image Courtesy Drinkin'&Drive-In

The debate over whether or not there is life outside of our own solar system is long and unending. However, astronomers Stephen Kane and Franck Zelziz are taking another approach to the theory of intelligent life in space, by exploring the idea of zombies inhabiting other planets.

According to io9, the astronomical duo recently published a study that suggests there are over 2,500 planets overrun with zombies within 100 parsecs, or 326 lightyears, of our own solar system. Seem outlandish? Well, they've got some evidence to back up their predictions. To break it down, they state that considering the high likelihood of non-human life in the universe, that it is equally plausible that these other life forms have also been affected by the same disastrous earth pandemics, such as the plague, smallpox, and Spontaneous Necro-Animation Psychosis, or SNAP, which is also known as "Zombie-ism." On SNAP and the possibility of extraterrestrial undead, they state:

"The projected frequency of SNAP planets explains a contradiction which has long troubled the proposition that intelligent life is common: the Fermi Paradox. This premise of the paradox is that the timescale for extraterrestrial civilizations to spread throughout the galaxy is small compared with stellar lifetimes and so we should have encountered our neighbors by now. Our work here shows the resolution of the paradox to be quite simple. The desolation of a civilization requires only that they encounter a case of SNAP during their exploration phase and their entire civilization will collapse. Let us not repeat history by rushing in to where our predecessors ought to have feared to tread."

So, following this train of thought, they believe that it is entirely possible that we haven't been able to communicate with other beings due to their destruction at the hands of a "zombie" apocalypse! While it seems unlikely, it is an extremely interesting theory. I know that I would personally be ok with never coming face to face with a space zombie. If you're curious, read the study and let us know your thoughts!

-Nowal Massari

Science Explains Away How the Ouija Board Works?

A recent article over at BBC has just become a major buzzkill for anyone who’s ever used a Ouija Board and thought they were communicating with the dead. Actually, they just did the reporting; recently deceased psychologist, Daniel Wegner, describes in his book The Illusion of Conscious Will describes that we are the ones making the movements even though we don’t realize we’re doing it. Bummer.

This is called the ideomotor effect which is when we unconsciously make motions. For example, when using a Ouija board or dowsing rods. The article cites a technique that’s akin to what many pregnant women do to learn the gender of their baby. The woman dangles a weighted string (preferably with your wedding ring) over their belly and depending on if the string moves in a circle or back-and-forth, this determines if you’re having a boy of a girl.

Do Einstein's Laws Prove Ghosts Exist? Nope!

So last week Live Science published an article titled "Do Einstein's Laws Prove Ghosts Exist" which discussed some very basic theories of Albert Einstein, and also reminded readers that many paranormal investigators use those theories to explain the existence of ghosts.

But after the story has been kicking around on the Internet for about a week now, it seems like few para peeps are actually reading the piece and just stopping at the headline. Of course this article is going to be a big win - and great news day - for ghost believers, right? Wrong.

Instead, Live Science presents the ghost hunter argument, paraphrased as:

If energy can neither be created nor destroyed, where does the human energy go once we die? Perhaps it continues on in ghostly form. Moreover, since organisms are powered by low-level electricity, perhaps that energy can be detected using certain gadgets.

Then they present viewpoint of science, which is:

Once we die, our energy is being passed onto the stuff that eats us and returns back to the environment - and the energy that powers us takes years to re-enter the environment or dissipates, so an EMF meter wouldn't be able to pick up ghostly remnants.

So the article isn't offering any boost to the paranormal community; it's shutting it down. But let's throw out another idea. Let's call it the Paranormal Pop Culture argument:

If you're a believer in ghostly activity and want science to back up that belief, you're going to have to find new theories to explain it. Essentially, you have to turn the "currently unexplained by science" part of the paranormal into the "normal," and then be able to test those theories. Paranormal believers will lose every time if they only rely on currently established science (although that established science cannot be tossed out, either).  If, for instance, a ghost hunter wants to utilize Einstein to offer support for the existence of ghosts, you must then also tell us how that energy is contained after death.

It seems like a tall order, but science is really good at tackling big phenomena - elegant phenomena that is made all the more intriguing by our deeper understanding of them. Solid, testable theories will prevail. In the end, good science wins.

If, however, you just believe and feel in your gut that ghosts are real, even if you cannot explain them, that's cool, too. Have faith - a majority of the population does when they practice some kind of religion that also cannot be explained by science. But be very wary of jumping into a scientific debate without quite understanding it.

On a side note, the same day Live Science, it was Carl Sagan's birthday. A great cosmologist, educator, astrophysicist (and believer in alien life), Sagan once said about science's pursuit that, "We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads, but to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact."